44,000 Airbnb listings predicted following government support

Airbnb listings will remain steady following a recent response by the NSW government to regulate the short-term letting industry, a property manager has predicted.

Property management start-up MadeComfy welcomed the announcement by the NSW government to look into regulating short-term holiday letting.

Data collected by MadeComfy reveals the announcement will not influence the number of Airbnb properties made available throughout the year. It said listings are on track to remain at their current pace, with 44,000 entire home Airbnb listings predicted by the end of 2017.

“The Airbnb market will not likely to see an influx of owners listing on the booking platform, but rather take confidence they can continue to do so with more clarity around their rights and responsibilities,” MadeComfy co-founder Sabrina Bethunin said.

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“The assessment also takes into account that of Sydney’s almost two million properties, only 1.2 per cent have been listed on Airbnb at some stage, suggesting there is still room for growth...” Ms Bethunin said.

“This support by the NSW government will hopefully result in short-term rentals being a viable option for every home owner without fear of legal or financial penalties”.

Ms Bethunin added that with the median property price in Sydney soaring past $1 million, households are dedicating an average of 44 per cent of their income to service their mortgages. This means “Sydneysiders are considered under ‘mortgage stress’ as they are devoting more than 30 per cent of their income to mortgage repayments”. Ms Bethunin said this mortgage stress can be alleviated by using short-term letting platforms.